The weather was warm for our #20 hike this Sunday. We went hiking at the Bells Canyon trail in Sandy. Leaves are a bit dried but still beautiful. The water was clean and everyone enjoyed a nice day out in the beautiful Wasatch mountains. Probably the last hike in 2011. Praise the Lord for the 20 hikes we've gone on this year. So many fond memories and highlights. So much breathtaking scenery.
The warm weather continued this weekend and high temperature reached 72 degrees. We went hiking almost like in our backyard since the trail head is just above the Olympus Cove residential area. By the time we arrived at the trail head, the parking lot was quite full. On our way up the trail, we met with brothers and sisters from Faith cell group, who started the hike at 1:30 pm. There were still plenty of fall foliage on the trail and the scenery was gorgeous!
After some above normal warm temperature last week, the weather cools down, and suddenly snowed on Thursday (10/5). Ski resorts got about a foot of fresh snow. The wet weather dried out late Saturday evening. Sunday was sunny and warm (still below the average of 68 degrees though). Our group met at church parking lot at 2:30 pm and headed to the trail head in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We had over 40 people hiking this lesser-known trail, but absolutely picturesque lake. This is the third time we hiked this trail. This time, the scene is quite unique: snow plus fall color. The cloud broke after we got to the lake. Our group had great time sharing snacks.
Fall color has arrived at the Wasatch mountains. Our hiking group needs to decide which trail to hit for the spectacular fall color. So I went to scout some trails in the East Canyon area during my lunch hour. I drove to the Big Mountain Pass and turned back. The 8-mile drive was full of magnificent view of fall color. At mile marker 6 I found there was an original Mormon Pioneer trail to Afleck Park. When I drove back, I also stopped by the Mormon Pioneer trail head near Afleck Park. This stretch of the Mormon Pioneer trail was full of beautiful fall color: yellow, red and orange.
This is the time of the year for magnificent fall foliage! We were planning on hiking the Silver Lake/Lake Solitude trail this Sunday. But a friend at church told me that she and her family drove along the Midway and Prove area and found a lot of red and orange color popping up on the mountain. So we changed the plan at last minute and went to Stewart Falls in Prove Canyon. The leaves are starting color change and the weather is so pleasant that many people didn't even drink water during the hike. There is still plenty of water at the falls. Kids were having fun near the water. Some people felt cold because the sun is setting and was block by the mountain. I found that the trail from Sundance resort has a huge patch of red and orange color. Maybe we will try to hike from Sundance resort next year. My camera's color was wacky after I tinkered with it the day before the hike. Big mistake! The photos came out fine, but I had to post-process them. This is our hike #15 of the year.
